February 12, 2006

Sometimes you throw a party, and everything's planned nicely, but one little thing gets all f***ed up. I've used that starred word, which I try to avoid, because it's less offensive than some of the messages in the Chinese fortune cookies served at the Brooklyn Borough president's Chinese New Year's party.

The 350 cookies stuffed with "the most graphically lurid" fortunes got mixed up with a batch of 1,750 cookies ordered for the Chinese New Year event, Borough President Marty Markowitz said Friday. Some guests "were stunned, to say the least."

And when you're used to the street language commonly used in Brooklyn, it's hard to be stunned.

The annual event — to raise money to send poor children to summer camp — was attended by some 700 guests Tuesday evening, but only about 80 were still there when the dirty cookies were opened, Markowitz said.

The borough president was on the second floor of the two-level restaurant when a guest "yelled to me from the first floor: 'Marty, did you order these cookies? Did you see what's inside them? I think you better get your butt down here!'" Markowitz said.

Markowitz, who was not wearing his glasses, had the "fortunes" read to him by some of the guests.

"I'm sure they were meant for a raunchy bachelor party," he said. "They were not cutesy. Triple X to say the least."

Markowitz had intended that more mellow slogans be used in the fortune cookies, like "Brooklyn — The 10th Planet," "Brooklyn — it's more than a freak'in tree," and "Brooklyn — it's like an everything bagel."

Not to mention a more appropriate slogan in light of this fiasco: "Oy vey!"

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